The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
27-09-2019
Identical elongated UFOs filmed over France and Costa Rica
Identical elongated UFOs filmed over France and Costa Rica
Identical elongated UFOs have been filmed over France and Costa Rica respectively on September 22, 2019 and May 7, 2019.
While UFO is a descriptive term for an unknown type of flying craft it is noteworthy that sightings of cigar-shaped UFOs traveling in our atmosphere or traveling in space f.e. next to Orion Nebula have been reported much more than any other type of UFOs over the years.
Both videos show the objects in real time as well as in still and enlarged images.
NASA’S NEW BLACK HOLE SIMULATION WILL COMPLETELY MELT YOUR BRAIN
NASA’S NEW BLACK HOLE SIMULATION WILL COMPLETELY MELT YOUR BRAIN
NASA
VICTOR TANGERMANN
Hungry Hungry
A new trippy visualization by NASA researchers shows how a black hole distorts its appearance by skewing the matter around it and warping the light itself with its immense gravity.
Gigantic black holes often appear at the center of large galaxies, where they pack an immense amount of matter into a tiny space. The resulting gravitational field eats up everything, including light.
Warp Zone
In the visualization, the yellow highlights are twisting magnetic fields as they’re making their way through churning gas. The inside gas nearest to the hole itself orbits the hole at almost the speed of light, according to a NASA statement.
The reason it has separate rings jutting out of the bottom is because of intense gravitational forces bending the light emitted by the disk, thereby providing a view of the disk’s underside.
Warping Space And Time
A team of scientists used NASA’s Event Horizon Telescope to snap the first-ever image of a black hole to the world back in April. Scientists are already working on getting an even crisper, higher resolution shot using two or three satellites.
NASA also helpfully included a labelled image of the highlights of its visualization.
‘Stealth Supersonic Spy Jet’ Spotted Near Oregon Air Base Leaves Conspiracy Theorists Guessing
‘Stealth Supersonic Spy Jet’ Spotted Near Oregon Air Base Leaves Conspiracy Theorists Guessing
Something that was universally deemed to be an exotic triangular object made its way over Portland, Oregon, arousing vast speculation over covert USAF projects, both past and present.
There has emerged a series of images supposedly showing a shadow project government spy plane in the skies over Portland, Oregon in the US, apparently a stone’s throw from the Portland Air National Guard Base (PANG). The authenticity of the images has yet to be verified, however.
The triangular, partially lit-up object featured in the snaps couldn’t help but intrigue the vast audience of YouTube conspiracy theorists Blake and Brett Cousins of thirdphaseofmoon, who posted the pictures in a clip over the weekend, citing “multiple accounts” from a number of onlookers in the area.
In the clip, Blake noted that the sighting, more specifically the contours, bears a striking resemblance to the alleged “infamous” TR-3B Black Manta – an aircraft that is thought to have been developed for the US Air Force as part of a black project.
Many have long speculated that the supersonic stealth plane, with a recognisable triangular design, was used during the Gulf War to provide laser designation for the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft.
Blake went on to suggest that the craft in the images was most certainly “military”, given the light it was throwing back.
“FINALLY! It's About To Get Real...TR-3B Pang Base Portland”, the website founders wrote, while another user commented in the same manner:
“Great picture of a TR-3B.”
There were, however, those who thought other options would be even more plausible:
“Judging by the pic that’s not the TR3. That’s the new Stealth AI Drone”, one astonished viewer noted, while another butted in, saying that he would rule out CGI (computer-generated imagery).
Hordes of fans applauded the footage, bringing up the military base in the vicinity: one even suggested that it could be a new stealth drone, the XQ-58A.
Another went deeper into the conspiracy theory, suggesting “they want to be seen” as “it’s part of how they control disclosure”.
“This IS NOT definitely a TR3B! It looks like an F45”, a user commented, with another chiming in with a completely different idea in mind:
“That is a Large Extra-terrestrial Craft. The 2nd clip. The entire ship is phasing in from another dimension and somehow how only exposing its lights. The ship does not reveal its true form for safety reasons (its [sic] massive, that's an understatement), and also due to compassion for us”, the user explained.
The idea about the military testing new equipment is recurrent, though:
“This is not a UFO/this is military aircraft. They were out testing”, one suggested, with another adding: “I saw what looked like an Air Force logo near the nose of the craft”.
Photo: Saucer-Shaped UFO Spotted in Daytime Over Doolin, Ireland
Photo: Saucer-Shaped UFO Spotted in Daytime Over Doolin, Ireland
A local resident was on 19 August reportedly trying to make a spectacular photo of his red-colored car parked on a rocky plain with beautiful bushy clouds in the background. After he returned home, a shocking and unexpected detail appeared on the picture.
The Irish driver noticed a thick and black disk hiding in the clouds.
The Irish driver noticed a thick and black disk hiding in the clouds
The purported alien space ship had visible those classic saucer-shaped features. Notably, the UFO was pictured seemingly tilted - according to hunters for an extraterrestrial - crucial sign that the object was flying when it was accidentally captured on camera.
According to UFO pundit Scott C. Waring, the owner of the thematic online source which broke this news, the sighting of such aerial phenomena has become statistically rare recently, because "In a world where everyone is looking down at their phone, its no wonder why sightings are down this year...few people bother looking up at the sky".
Overnight changes in Mars’ atmosphere could solve a methane mystery
Overnight changes in Mars’ atmosphere could solve a methane mystery
Atmospheric gases may mix differently as the planet’s surface moves in and out of sunshine
The Curiosity Mars rover, shown in a self-portrait taken in May, detected a much higher concentration of methane gas on the ground than an overhead orbiter did. Now there may be an explanation.
Methane released in Gale crater stays in Gale crater. An overnight change in the Martian atmosphere could hold the gas close to the ground until morning, explaining why the Curiosity rover caught a whiff of methane while an overhead orbiter found none.
The theory offers “a way for the two measurements to live in harmony with each other,” says planetary scientist John Moores of York University in Toronto. He and his colleagues lay out the theory’s details online August 20 in Geophysical Research Letters.
Methane should last no more than about 300 years in the Martian atmosphere before sunlight breaks it down. “To see a seasonal cycle tells you that something is actively producing or destroying methane in the present time,” Moores says. Microbes produce methane on Earth, so finding the gas on the Red Planet has been seen as a possible sign of life — although not a definitive one.
Methane “can be produced by abiotic processes,” says Dorothy Oehler, a planetary geologist and astrobiologist with the Planetary Science Institute who is based in Houston. “But even if it’s not directly related to biology, it can enhance habitability for other kinds of microbes. So it’s an important thing to be seeking,” says Oehler, who was not involved in the new study.
Curiosity measured average methane concentrations of 0.41 parts per billion inside Gale crater, a 154-kilometer-wide depression near Mars’ equator. So it was a surprise when the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter, part of the ExoMars mission which arrived at Mars in 2016 (SN: 10/18/16), flew over Gale crater and found no methane at all. There could still be minuscule methane concentrations below 0.05 parts per billion in the atmosphere that the Trace Gas Orbiter can’t smell, the satellite team reported in Nature April 10.
Even so, “it is hard to reconcile those” different findings, Moores says. If Mars is oozing enough methane that Curiosity would sense so much, there should be enough methane in the atmosphere for the orbiter to detect.
But Moores’ team noticed a coincidence: Curiosity took all its methane measurements at night, when the rover is standing still and charging its batteries. Night could also mark a time when gases mix differently in the Martian atmosphere than they do in the daytime, the team realized.
During the day, sunlight warms the air, creating currents and convection that mix different molecules together. So, methane in the daytime atmosphere can get mixed up and diluted. But overnight, the air calms and methane could build up near the surface, where Curiosity can sniff it. At sunrise, the methane would get diluted again.
The idea is plausible, and the argument in the paper is convincing, says planetary scientist Sébastien Viscardy of the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy in Brussels, a member of the Trace Gas Orbiter team. But the theory doesn’t explain everything, he says.
For one thing, Moores and colleagues calculated that, to be consistent with both measurements, only 27,000 square kilometers of Mars’ surface should emit methane at a constant rate. That’s an area equivalent to 1½ Gale craters.
And “it’s difficult to imagine that only Gale emits methane,” Moores says. “Either Gale is even more special than we imagine, or there’s something we’re missing in the chemistry of the atmosphere.”
The bigger problem, Viscardy says, is that the different nighttime methane concentrations detected don’t explain the periodic spikes in methane that Curiosity has also observed (SN: 4/28/15). Those spikes showed huge methane increases occurring at random intervals throughout Curiosity’s mission. The most recent spike, in June 2019, was the largest plume yet observed, with methane levels of about 20 parts per billion, about 50 times above the seasonal average. Within a few days, though, detected methane levels returned to normal.
So the daily change in atmospheric mixing “solves a very small problem, but not the global methane story,” Viscardy says.
What were the mystery fireballs of Devon? Police launch urgent search after 'two fireballs tear through sky' sparking 999 calls over fears of a plane crash
What were the mystery fireballs of Devon? Police launch urgent search after 'two fireballs tear through sky' sparking 999 calls over fears of a plane crash
Two bright lights spotted over south coast of England early this morning
Sparked several 999 calls from witnesses concerned it was a plane crash
Devon and Cornwall police have searched the area and are 'satisfied' it was not a plane crash but more likely an asteroid
Police in Devon are investigating a mysterious bright object spotted falling across the night sky over the south coast.
Two 'fireballs' sparked several 999 calls, with witnesses suspecting there could have been a plane crash.
Plymouth police reached out to the public to try and establish the cause, questioning whether it might have been asteroids breaking up in the atmosphere.
'Did anybody else see two glowing objects falling southwesterly direction out towards Plymouth sound? I know I have been up all night, but that was odd. Asteroid?' the force tweeted.
Plymouth police reached out to the public to attempt to identify a mysterious bright object spotted falling across the night sky over the south coast, questioning whether it might have been asteroids breaking up in the atmosphere
Another officer responded with a picture they managed to take of the bright light at around 5.52am this morning.
The Force Incident Manager for Devon and Cornwall Police said: 'We have had further reports of seeing an object in the sky from some distance away with a trajectory towards the ground, with an item falling off it at some point.
'There have been reports it broke into two and this has come from numerous people.
'We’ve got two aircrafts in the air looking and doing aerial searches of the area. At the moment we are saying it is the Yelverton/Tavistock/Prince Town area.'
Sightings were also reported across the South Coast of England, London and Wales in the minutes before 6am.
In a further update, officers in Devon have ruled out the possibility of a plane crash due to a lack of debris, suggesting it was more likely a meteor shower.
Insp John Shuttleworth said: 'We are as satisfied as we can be that this has not been a light aircraft crash and no persons have been injured.
'The expert opinion of trained search officers is that if there had been an aircraft crash, assets in the air would have seen some debris.
'There have also been a couple of reports from the Cardiff and Dorset areas of people watching meteor showers across the South West.'
WASHINGTON DC – On September 7, the US mini space shuttle X-37B completed two years in orbit. Today it is one of the most enigmatic space apparatuses, as very little information about its mission is known.
Some experts are confident that this spacecraft pursues purely military purposes.
The NASA space agency and the US company Boeing began to carry out the project related to the construction of the X-37 in 1999. At the beginning of the works, its manufacturers considered that the device would be dedicated to repair satellites located at an altitude of up to 700 kilometers. Later however, the military fully classified this project and commissioned it to carry out the Advanced Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
This spacecraft’s previous mission ended in May 2017 after remaining 718 days in orbit. On October 7, 2017, the X-37B made its fifth flight in space and is still there today.
Secret Mission
Although the device has been in orbit for two years, experts can only make assumptions about the tasks this shuttle can perform in space. According to one version, the US military conducts experiments aboard the X-37B. In particular, NASA investigates the influence the space environment has on different materials.
The director of the Space Policy Institute, Ivan Moiseev, explained to Sputnik that this device was created especially for use by the Pentagon. According to the agency’s interlocutor, the X-37B carries smaller intelligence satellites.
Why does X-37B ‘scare’ Washington’s enemies?
Former US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson has almost confirmed the military designation of this spacecraft. Under the policy, the machine’s unusual maneuverability “drives” potential US enemies crazy.
“[…] Our enemies do not know where they will be later, as this occurs on the hidden side of the earth. We know that this lack of knowledge makes them crazy and I am really happy about it,” emphasized the employee quoted by various averages.
Answer from Russia
Ivan Moiseev recalled that the spacecraft’s current orbit passes over the equator, and it is unlikely that the spacecraft will actively change its position using its aerodynamic characteristics.
“To change its tilt and stand on Russia, the X-37B needs to expend a lot of energy that it cannot generate by itself,” he explains.
Moreover, nowadays Russia is one of the largest space powers in the world. Its advanced space control systems can track the flight of US satellites and easily detect all their movements.
“Watching the X-37B is an easier task for us. It’s so big that you just have to turn right or left and then we can figure it out,” Russian Aerospace Forces Major General Anatoly Nesterechuk said.
Not only does Russia now have surveillance satellites, it also has X-37B-like ship-fighting devices. These systems can neutralize them if they pose a threat to your national security.
NASA news: What is this giant black hole on Jupiter? JunoCam snaps stunning pictures
NASA news: What is this giant black hole on Jupiter? JunoCam snaps stunning pictures
NASA’S Juno spacecraft snapped this incredible image of a giant black hole cropping up on the surface of Jupiter – but what is this dark spot blemishing the Gas Giant?
NASA’s spacecraft snapped this stunning portrait of Jupiter during one of its closest flybys of the Gas Giant. The flyby, or perijove, was the 22nd close brush with the planet that took place on September 11 this year. NASA’s Juno performs frequent dives towards Jupiter to study the planet’s surface and takes stunning snapshots of its atmospheric features. In this mesmerising photo, the probe appears to have snapped a large black hole in the upper hemisphere of the planet.
NASA news: What is this large black hole on the surface of Jupiter?
NASA news: The images were snapped by NASA's Juno spacecraft
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill)
As a result, the moon blotted out the sunlight and cast its round shadow onto the cloudy surface of Jupiter.
Your labours of love have illustrated articles about Juno, Jupiter and JunoCam
NASA
In essence, NASA’s probe witnessed a solar eclipse on Jupiter from high up in orbit.
Raw images of the Jovian eclipse were shared on NASA’s JunoCam directory where amateur astronomers and space enthusiasts have an opportunity to process them.
This particular image was tweaked and processed by software engineer Kevin Gill.
Members of the public are invited to dive into the JunoCam directory to have a go at processing the images.
Some of the best user-submitted images are often put on display by the US space agency.
NASA said: “We invite you to download them, do your own image processing, and we encourage you to upload your creations for us to enjoy and share.
“The types of image processing we’d love to see range from simply cropping an image to highlighting a particular atmospheric feature, as well as adding your own colour enhancements, creating collages and adding advanced colour reconstruction.
NASA news: The dark spot is a solar eclipse of the Galilean moon Io
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltec /SwRI/MSSS/AstroHD)
“For those of you who have contributed – thank you. Your labours of love have illustrated articles about Juno, Jupiter and JunoCam.”
NASA’s Juno launched into space on August 5, 2011, but it did not reach Jupiter until July 2016.
The spacecraft is the second probe to reach the Gas Giant after Galileo between 1995 and 2003.
Once the mission comes to an end, NASA will deorbit the spacecraft to burn up in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
NASA news: The Juno probe reached Jupiter in July 2016
(Image: NASA)
NASA said: “Juno's principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter.
“Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation.
“As our primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars.”
The Juno probe is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.
Quick facts about the planet Jupiter:
1. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in our solar system.
2. Just like Saturn, the Gas Giant has rings but they are too faint to see.
3. Astronomers believed Jupiter does not have a surface but does have a solid core about the size of Earth.
4. The Gas Giant boats a total of 79 moons of its own.
5. A single day on Jupiter lasts only 10 hours.
6. The clouds on Jupiter are estimated to be about 31 miles (50km) thick.
7. Jupiter’s largest moons were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610.
8. The Gas Giant weighs twice as much as all the other planets in the system combined.
9. Eleven Earths can fit in a straight line across Jupiter’s equator.
10. The planet’s iconic Great Red Spot is a storm that is bigger than our planet.
The Moon may provide the most efficient method of obtaining evidence for alien life, a groundbreaking new scientific paper has proposed. Harvard astronomers Professor Abraham Loeb and Manasvi Lingam suggest in a new paper how the lunar surface could act as a “fishing net” for interstellar objects. Such objects from outside our solar system could collected over time on the lunar surface and potentially store the building blocks of life from the habitable environments around other stars.
The pair wrote in their paper: “The lack of a lunar atmosphere guarantees that these messengers will not burn up on their way but instead reach the lunar surface.
Will the unique qualities of the lunar surface enable new frontiers in astronomy?
Professor Abraham Loeb
“In addition, the geological inactivity of the Moon implies that the record deposited on its surface will be preserved and not get mixed with the deep lunar interior.
“Serving as a natural mailbox, the lunar surface collected all impacting objects over the past few billions of years.
“Most of this ‘mail’ originated from our neighbourhood within the Solar System.”
Alien life news: Might ET evidence be accumulating on the lunar surface?
Alien life news: Harvard's Professor Abraham Loeb the lunar surface could act as a “fishing net”(Image: Getty)(Image: Getty)
Space scientists now know the Solar System also intercepts external objects from interstellar space.
These range from dust particles to free-floating planets and stars.
The first interstellar object, the 200m long cigar-shaped `Oumuamua, made headlines around the world when it was first reported in 2017.
And earlier this year another was tentatively discovered in the form of one metre-size meteor from outside the Solar system, after burning-up in our atmosphere in 2014.
On the assumption these interstellar enter the Solar System on random trajectories, Professor Loeb and his team estimated the amount of interstellar material collected on the surface of the Moon over its history.
And although Moon rocks were famously returned to Earth by the NASA Apollo mission, they were likely contaminated by human hands.
This, they argue is the reason why evidence of interstellar impactors carrying the building blocks of extraterrestrial life has yet to be discovered on the lunar surface.
Professor Loeb wrote in Scientific American: “The fundamental question is whether distant life resembles the biochemical structures we find on Earth.
“Similarities might imply that there exists a unique chemical path for life everywhere or that life was transferred between systems.
“Either way, a lunar study shortcuts the need to send spacecrafts on extremely long missions to visit other star systems.
Getting similar information from a trip to the nearest star system: Alpha Centauri A, B or C, would take nearly nine years even if the spacecraft were to travel at the maximum speed allowed in nature, the speed of light.
Chemical rockets, meanwhile, could make this journey only after a hundred thousand years, of order the time that elapsed since the first modern humans began migrating out of Africa.
The Harvard astronomers conclude: “Excavating the lunar surface for physical evidence of etraterrestrial life is dramatically faster.”
Maps are handy for travel. But what if you’re traveling to a place never before visited? For the ExoMars mission, due to launch next summer, scientists have developed new 3-D models of the area to be explored, which may be an old Martian river delta.
Here’s a piece of one of the new 3-D models just created to help ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover explore Mars in 2021. The models are so detailed that they show, for example, as dune ripples inside craters, as you see here.
Image via TU Dortmund/ NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ Europlanet.
How do modern-day space explorers prepare to search an unknown terrain? Never mind that the explorers are robots, and that the preparers are space scientists and engineers. Next summer, an ambitious new mission to Mars is scheduled to launch. The ExoMars mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) will carry the robotic Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars. The rover will search for evidence of past Martian life in Oxia Planum, a large plain rich in clays and containing an old river delta. How do they prepare? A team of scientists at TU Dortmund Universityin Germany has created extremely detailed 3-D models of the landing location. These scientists said on September 16, 2019 that they want to use the models to understand the geography and geological characteristics of this unexplored region on Mars, and to help plan the path of the rover.
The 3-D models are called Digital Terrain Models (DTMs). They’re a variation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) used by space scientists to understand planets, moons and asteroids. These particular maps have a resolution of about 25 centimeters per pixel. One of scientists, Kay Wohlfarth, presented them at last week’s international meeting of astronomers in Geneva, Switzerland.
First, they use high-resolution imagery of Mars’ surface from the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). That imagery is then applied to the classic stereo method of combining two images taken from slightly different angles, in order to create a 3D image of the landscape. But those kinds of stereo techniques can be limited when it comes to dusty and sandy surfaces – basically featureless – in locations like the Rosalind Franklin landing site, Oxia Planum. By necessity, the landing site is relatively flat to help ensure a safe landing.
The DTMs were then further enhanced by using a technique called Shape from Shading in which the intensity of reflected light in the image is translated into information on surface slopes. The slope data is combined with the stereo imagery, providing a much better estimate of the 3-D surface, while achieving the best resolution possible in the reconstructed landscape.
The resulting models give the scientists a much more detailed view of the landing region. As Wohlfarth explained:
With the technique, even small-scale details such as dune ripples inside craters and rough bedrock can be reproduced.
Artist’s illustration of the Rosalind Franklin rover on Mars, part of ESA’s ExoMars mission.
We have taken special care over the interaction between light and the Martian surface. Areas that are tilted towards the sun appear brighter and areas that are facing away appear darker. Our approach uses a joint reflectance and atmospheric model that incorporates reflection by the surface as well as atmospheric effects that diffuse and scatter light.
These new models will be a great aid to the rover as it navigates the landscape, looking for the best places to study with its array of instruments. Not only will the rover examine rocks and soil, it will also be able to drill up to two meters (six feet) into the subsurface, searching for possible biosignatures, chemical traces of past life. Samples will be delivered to the on-board laboratory for analysis.
PanCam, with its stereo and high-resolution cameras, will provide detailed views of interesting features in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Spectrometers will determine what rocks are composed of, and how much they were affected by water.
The rover’s drill in a clean room on Earth, in the stowed position. The drill will be able to penetrate down to two meters (six feet) into the subsurface.
According to Jorge Vago, ESA’s ExoMars rover project scientist:
Our rover has really taken shape. We have an incredibly powerful scientific payload to explore the surface and subsurface of Mars on our quest to find biosignatures.
ExoMars will be an exciting mission, and along with NASA’s upcoming 2020 rover, the first since the Viking mission in the 1970s/1980s to look directly for evidence of life. The rover is expected to launch sometime between July 26 and August 13, 2020 on a Russian Proton-M launcher, arriving at Mars in March 2021.
More information about ExoMars mission is available on the mission website.
Bottom line: New 3-D models of the Martian terrain will help the Rosalind Franklin rover search for life on Mars in 2021.
Irish Teenager Invents Magnetic Liquid Trap That Can Remove 90% of Microplastics From Water
Irish Teenager Invents Magnetic Liquid Trap That Can Remove 90% of Microplastics From Water
Teenager wins Google Science award for genius invention that could cheaply remove most microplastics from the ocean
Because microplastics are so small — some as tiny as grains of sand — scientists have had a hard time figuring out to remove them from the soil and the sea.
Now, an Irish teenager has come up with a promising solution for this seemingly impossible task — a magnetic liquid that attracts microplastics to itself.
18-year-old Fionn Ferreira was kayaking one day when he spotted a rock covered in oil from a recent spill. Clinging to the oil were a bunch of tiny pieces of plastic.
“It got me thinking,” Ferreira told Business Insider. “In chemistry, like attracts like.”
Plastic and oil are nonpolar, making them likely to stick together in nature
Ferreira wondered if the effect could be recreated using ferrofluid, a magnetic, oil-based liquid invented by NASA in 1963 to keep rocket fuel moving in zero gravity.
Today ferrofluid is used to control vibrations in speakers and to seal off electronics to keep debris out.
Ferreira makes a more environmentally friendly version of the liquid than the kind used in rocket fuel, using recycled vegetable oil and magnetite powder, a mineral found naturally on Earth’s surface.
When he first drops the liquid into a container of water contaminated with microplastics, it disperses and turns the water black.
Then he dips a magnet in the water, which pulls out all the ferrofluid, plastic and all, leaving clear water behind.
“It got me thinking,” Ferreira told Business Insider. “In chemistry, like attracts like.”
The method removed 88% of the microplastics in his test samples.
The most difficult type of microplastic to remove was polypropylene, used to make all sorts of plastic packaging. Still, the ferrofluid removes 80% of polypropylene.
The easiest microplastics to remove were microfibers from plastic clothing such polyester, spandex and Lycra.
Washers and dryers are currently not equipped to filter these microfibers, which are a major source of ocean plastic pollution, so this is great news for that application.
Additionally, Ferreira‘s invention can be used at wastewater treatment plants as a sort of catch-all for microplastic pollution before it enters rivers, lakes and oceans.
Ferreira has won the Google Science award, $50,000 and educational funding for his invention.
Thanks to 2019’s record drought in Europe, a 7,000-year-old circle of 150 upright stones is back on dry land in western Spain, after 50 years underwater.
This image shows the remains of the standing stones in July 28, 2019, after having been submerged since the 1960s.
After 50 years underwater, Spain’s Dolmen of Guadalperal— a 7,000-year-old circle of 150 upright stones — is back on dry land, thanks to record heat and drought in Europe this summer.
The megalithic monuments – known as the Spanish Stonehenge, located several miles from the town Peraleda de la Mata – have been underwater since the 1963 construction of the Valdecañas Dam flooded this region of western Spain. In the summer of 2019, several areas of Europe experienced drought conditions, including Spain, which had its third-driest June of the century, along with above-average temperatures in July and August. The drought conditions were enough to expose the Dolmen of Guadalperal, so that some residents of the nearby town of Peraleda de la Mata were able to see it for the first time. Angel Castaño is president of Raíces de Peralêda, a local cultural association dedicated to preserving the monument. He told AtlasObscura.com:
All my life, people had told me about the dolmen. I had seen parts of it peeking out from the water before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in full. It’s spectacular because you can appreciate the entire complex for the first time in decades.
When we saw it, we were completely thrilled. It felt like we had discovered a megalithic monument ourselves.
NASA Earth Observatory also reported on the reappearance of the Dolmen of Guadalperal, showing two different satellite images of it, captured in July 2013 and July 2019, by NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite. Note the changing water levels and the widening of the tan ring around the along the reservoir’s shoreline in the second image. These lighter colored sediments are the recently exposed lake bottom. A circle marks the Dolmen of Guadalperal.
The Dolmen of Guadalperal was found in 1926, part of a research and excavation campaign led by the German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier. Scientists believe it could have been a solar temple, as well as a burial enclave. Roman remains have been found there, including a coin, ceramic fragments and a grinding stone. Axes, ceramics, flint knives and a copper punch were found in a nearby dump. According to the Spanish media outlet Repelando, a settlement was also found nearby, thought to date back to the time of the monument’s construction. There were homes, charcoal and ash stains, lots of pottery, mills and stones to sharpen axes, among other objects, .
Since the 1960s, tips of the tallest megaliths have peaked out of the lake as water levels fluctuated. The monument consists of 150 granite stones or orthostates, placed in vertical arrangement that make up a circular chamber about 15 feet (five meters) in diameter, preceded by an access corridor about 70 feet (21 meters) long.
At the end of the hall, just at the entrance of the chamber, there is a menhir or standing stone, about 6 feet (2 meters) high, that contains the image of a snake. Research suggests this image represents the Tagus River – longest river in the Iberian peninsula – which passes through the area.
The Dolmen of Guadalperal are located in the town of Peraleda de la Mata in Spain.
Archeologists believe the Dolmen of Guadalperal was originally constructed as an enclosed space — a large stone house with a cap. The dolmen could have served as a tomb, a site for religious rituals, or a trading hub since it was relatively easy to cross the river at this location.
The most recent recorded exploration and excavation of the site was by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in the 1920s. By the time Obermaier’s findings were published in the 1960s though, Valdecañas Reservoir was filled with water.
The Dolmen de Guadalperal was excavated and studied in the 1920s, drowned in the 1960s, and dry again in 2019.
Image via 1080 Wildlife Productions/ AtlasObscura.
Bottom line: The Dolmen of Guadalperal – aka the Spanish Stonehenge, submerged for 50 years – is back on dry land, thanks to the hot and dry 2019 summer.
They're at the core of a triple galaxy merger 1 billion light-years from Earth.
A view from multiple telescopes of SDSS J084905.51+111447.2, a system of three merging galaxies found about 1 billion light-years from Earth. The system harbors three supermassive black holes on a collision course, a new study reports.
A rare trio of supermassive black holes has been caught in the act of coming together.
Three of the light-gobbling monsters nuzzle shoulder to shoulder in SDSS J084905.51+111447.2, a system of three merging galaxies about 1 billion light-years from Earth, a new study reports.
"We were only looking for pairs of black holes at the time, and yet, through our selection technique, we stumbled upon this amazing system," lead author Ryan Pfeifle, of George Mason University in Virginia, said in a statement. "This is the strongest evidence yet found for such a triple system of actively feeding supermassive black holes."
Making the epic find wasn't easy; it took observations by multiple instruments and help from lots of citizen scientists.
The trail started with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope in New Mexico, which imaged SDSS J084905.51+111447.2 in optical light. Volunteers with the citizen-science project Galaxy Zoo then used those images to flag the system as an ongoing galaxy merger.
Next, the researchers looked at data gathered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. WISE spied lots of infrared light emanating from the system during a phase of the merger in which more than one of the supermassive black holes was expected to be accreting material rapidly, the researchers said.
Further observations in X-ray and optical light sealed the deal. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory detected strong sources of X-ray light near each of the merging galaxies' centers, indicating that lots of gas and dust was being consumed there — a sign of black-hole feeding.
NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array spacecraft, or NuSTAR, also spotted evidence of gas and dust circling one of the supermassive black holes. And optical-light data gathered by the SDSS and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona further bolstered the notion that all three black holes were active.
"Through the use of these major observatories, we have identified a new way of identifying triple supermassive black holes," Pfeifle said. Each telescope gives us a different clue about what's going on in these systems. We hope to extend our work to find more triples using the same technique."
The distance from each supermassive black hole to its nearest neighbor ranges from 10,000 light-years to 30,000 light-years, study team members said. But those spans will shrink, because the black holes are apparently bound to merge, just as their parent galaxies are doing now.
Astronomers already know a bit about how black holes collide; after all, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has detected the gravitational waves generated by a number of black-hole mergers. But a triple system probably works a bit differently than the traditional merging duo does, the researchers said.
For example, the nearby presence of a third supermassive black hole should make its two neighbors come together much faster.
"This may be a solution to a theoretical conundrum called the 'final parsec problem,' in which two supermassive black holes can approach to within a few light-years of each other, but would need some extra pull inwards to merge because of the excess energy they carry in their orbits," officials on the Chandra mission wrote in the same statement. "The influence of a third black hole, as in SDSS J0849+1114, could finally bring them together."
Neither LIGO nor Europe's similar Virgo project can detect the gravitational waves produced by mergers of supermassive black holes, by the way. The frequencies involved are outside the range of both LIGO and Virgo, which are tuned to gravitational waves generated by much smaller stellar-mass black holes.
Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated byKarl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcom orFacebook.
Opnieuw mysterieus ruimte-object ontdekt dat van buiten ons zonnestelsel komt - HLN.be
Opnieuw mysterieus ruimte-object ontdekt dat van buiten ons zonnestelsel komt - HLN.be
Photo NewsEen beeld van de nieuwe bezoeker van ons zonnestelsel, genomen door het Gemini Observatory op Hawaii.
WETENSCHAP Astronomen hebben opnieuw een ruimte-object gespot in ons zonnestelsel dat daar niet uit afkomstig is. Het is nog maar de tweede keer dat zoiets gebeurt, na de ontdekking van een mysterieuze sigaarvormige ruimterots in 2017. Op 7 december zal het object – waarvan ook nu niemand weet wat het precies is – zijn kleinste afstand tot de zon bereiken.
2I/Borisov: zo heeft de Internationale Astronomische Unie (IAU) het ruimte-object genoemd, naar ontdekker Gennady Borisov. Die amateurastronoom uit de Krim spotte het als eerste op 30 augustus met een zelfgemaakt telescoop. Het object leek op een komeet.
Na een week van observaties door astronomen van over de hele wereld, slaagde het Minor Planet Center van het Amerikaanse Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory erin om een voorlopige baan te berekenen van het object en dat wees erop dat het van buiten ons zonnestelsel kwam. Een conclusie die intussen met zekerheid bevestigd is.
Op basis van zijn helderheid vermoeden wetenschappers dat het object een diameter heeft van enkele kilometers. Dat is echter niet exact te bepalen omdat er rond de kern een aura zit.
2I/Borisov zou op 7 december op zijn dichtste punt bij de zon komen. Het object zou zich dan op 2 Astronomische Eenheden (300 miljoen kilometer) van de Aarde én van de zon bevinden. Ter vergelijking: dat is twee keer de afstand van de Aarde tot de zon.
Het object zou op zijn helderst zijn in december en januari en te zien aan de zuidelijke hemel. Daarna zal het zich weer verder van ons verwijderen en voorgoed uit ons zonnestelsel verdwijnen. (lees hieronder verder)
Photo News1I/Oumuamua.
Het is nog maar de tweede keer dat wetenschappers een object waarnemen in ons zonnestelsel dat daar niet uit afkomstig is. In 2017 werd 1I/Oumuamua ontdekt en dat was meteen wereldnieuws. Er werd volop gespeculeerd over wat het precies kon zijn en daarbij werd zelfs geopperd dat het om een buitenaards ruimteschip ging. Maar tot nu toe heeft men nog niet met zekerheid kunnen vaststellen wat het precies is. Hetzelfde geldt voorlopig voor 2I/Borisov.
Waarneembaar
2I/Borisov zal wel langer waarneembaar zijn dan 1I/Oumuamua – verscheidene maanden – en dat is een vooruitzicht dat wetenschappers plezier doet. Ze hopen dat ze de mysterieuze bezoeker van ons zonnestelsel daardoor grondiger zullen kunnen bestuderen.
De nieuwe vondst doet vermoeden dat er nog meer van dergelijke objecten zijn en die zouden een nieuwe manier kunnen bieden om processen in andere sterrenstelsels te onderzoeken.
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Is The London Hammer An Ancient, Out Of Place Artifact?
Is The London Hammer An Ancient, Out Of Place Artifact?
By: Lisa Trank
What could be so unusual, or controversial about the discovery of an iron hammer encased in rock? After all, archaeologists have discovered historical artifacts for as long as humans have been searching for their ancient roots. But what happens when an object defies historical study and appears to exist in the mysterious realms between worlds, as a kind of time traveler? For what is known as the “London Hammer,” the world has been wrangling with a seemingly ordinary household tool; one steeped in mystery, archaeological wonder, and for many, unanswered questions.
Alleged to date back more than 400 million years, the London Hammer, or as it is also called, the London Artifact, can be looked at as a study in how the modern and ancient worlds can connect, and collide. How else can we explain that an obviously human-made instrument linked to the late 1800s never rusted, despite the wood transforming into coal? How could the London Hammer withstand normal aging impacts such as oxidation, and what explanations can be made for it having been found in a rock formation that precedes human existence? Perhaps it’s best to start where the London Hammer was supposedly discovered – the tiny town of London, Texas.
LONDON HAMMER: FROM TEXAS TO THE WORLD STAGE
For Max and Emma Hahn, it was a summer day like many others. In 1936, the Texas couple took a hike along Red Creek near London, Texas, a tiny community located in the center of the Lone Star State. But the hike was like no other the Hahns had ever experienced. Not because of the weather, or the beauty of the landscape, but because they discovered a strange piece of wood encased in what seemed to be an unusual formation of rock.
It wasn’t until 1947 that their son broke through the rock and uncovered what was attached to the wooden handle — an iron-headed hammer. For close to four decades, the hammer remained a local oddity and relatively unknown, until it came to the attention of Carl Baugh, a Young Earth creationist, after an article was published on the artifact in the Bible-Science Newsletterin 1983. Baugh was influential in a form of creationism which believes that Earth and all its forms of life were created by a deity’s supernatural acts 6000-10,000 years ago. He promoted the hammer as proof of an antediluvian discovery, which remains in exhibit at Baugh’s Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Texas.
Of equal interest to archaeologists, the London Hammer posed a scientific dilemma. What could possibly explain how a modern instrument was encased in ancient, prehistoric Ordovician rock from between 65-135 million years ago?
There are many who doubt where the hammer was supposedly found; others claim the rock formation is consistent with the minerals and sediments of the surrounding area, putting the claim of the rock dating back to hundreds of millions of years ago in doubt. Others claim that the hammer could have been discarded and the rock formation occurred through the natural process of petrification.
Carbon 14 dating of the hammer’s wooden handle would provide a pathway to best determine the age of the rock, as well as the hammer. Unfortunately, the hammer’s owner, Baugh, has only conducted private testing and has to date not published the results. The strongest criticism of the Baugh’s pre-flood theory comes from Glen J. Kuban, former creationist, computer programmer, and paleontology enthusiast, who states that “no clear evidence linking the hammer to any ancient formation has been presented.”
Despite this, there are certain facts about the London Hammer which does shed some light on the mysterious tool.
The Hammer measures at six inches in length with a diameter of one inch.
The metal is made up of 96.6% iron, 2.6% chlorine, and 0.74% sulfur.
The iron head has not rusted since it was discovered in 1936.
The wooden handle is unmineralized with small traces of carbonization
While the exact discovery location has not been verified, the lack of sharp nicks seems to confirm that it was not chiseled from a larger rock formation, but found loose, as the Hahns claimed.
There is much debate surrounding the London Hammer’s origin remains unanswered. Was the artifact hit by a meteorite that formed around the tool? According to what is known about the chemical component of a meteor, the formation’s composition would seem to discount this theory. Some counter this by asserting the existence of an ancient, advanced civilization which left behind tools eerily similar to those of a more modern era.
The most well-known argument refuting the London Hammer’s provenance in an ancient time comes from J. R. Cole from the National Center for Science Education who wrote in 1985 that:“the stone concretion is real, and it looks impressive to someone unfamiliar with geological processes. How could a modern artifact be stuck in Ordovician rock? The answer is that the concretion itself is not Ordovician. Minerals in solution can harden around an intrusive object dropped in a crack or simply left on the ground if the source rock (in this case, reportedly Ordovician) is chemically soluble.”
The mystery surrounding the London Hammer remains. For those who believe, the hammer represents a kind of mystical time traveler. For others, it is a geological wonder. Whatever the belief, the London Hammer does represent our unquenchable thirst for knowledge, meaning, and connection to a larger order.
Een 400 miljoen jaar oude hamer? Niemand heeft een verklaring voor dit mysterieuze voorwerp
Een 400 miljoen jaar oude hamer? Niemand heeft een verklaring voor dit mysterieuze voorwerp
In 1934 werd in de plaats London in de Amerikaanse staat Texas een hamer gevonden in een laag steen.
Het gesteente is naar verluidt meer dan 400 miljoen jaar oud, wat zou betekenen dat de hamer is gemaakt voordat er mensen waren.
De hamer kwam in de jaren tachtig in handen van Carl Baugh. Hij speculeerde dat de omstandigheden op aarde al die miljoenen jaren geleden een ras van reuzen hebben voortgebracht.
Ongewone samenstelling
Baugh liet het voorwerp analyseren door het Battelle Laboratory in de staat Ohio. In hetzelfde lab zijn maanstenen van de NASA onderzocht.
De hamer heeft een ongewone samenstelling: 96,6 procent ijzer, 2,6 procent chloor, 0,76 procent zwavel en 0 procent koolstof.
De afwezigheid van koolstof is vreemd. Chloor wordt normaal gesproken niet aangetroffen in ijzer. In het ijzer zijn geen luchtbelletjes gevonden. De hamer bevat een laag ijzeroxide die roest voorkomt.
Scepticus Glen J. Kuban zei dat het gesteente materiaal kan bevatten wat miljoenen jaren oud is, maar dat het gesteente rond de hamer mogelijk een stuk jonger is.
Fossielen
Rond archeologische voorwerpen vormt zich soms een laag kalksteen die niet ouder is dan 200 jaar.
Rond de hamer zijn echter fossielen gevonden die deel uitmaken van de oorspronkelijke formatie. De fossielen zijn niet aangetast.
Dit zou erop kunnen wijzen dat de fossielen en de hamer uit dezelfde periode stammen. Koolstofdatering van de hamer in de jaren negentig leverde weinig op omdat de monsters besmet zouden zijn geraakt.
Steenkool
Het voorwerp is gevonden door een wandelaar en lag op een richel. Mogelijk is het losgekomen uit een grotere formatie.
Baugh verklaarde dat een deel van het houten handvat van de hamer door de jaren heen in steenkool is veranderd.
Op foto’s van de hamer is een donker gedeelte te zien wat steenkool zou kunnen zijn.
Witness To An Alien Abduction Frightened In Australia
Witness To An Alien Abduction Frightened In Australia
OCTOBER 1, 2001 …………GUNDIAH AUSTRALIA
Keith Rylance told us that he had gone to sleep in the caravan bedroom at about 9.30 pm. Petra retired to her bedroom in the caravan annex. Amy stayed on a couch watching TV in the caravan annex “lounge room”. Each of these locations were in close proximity, separated by a window and wall respectively from the lounge room.
Petra’s room had a door leading to the lounge room, which was left ajar. The door to the bedroom, where Keith was, apparently was open to the lounge room. Amy apparently fell asleep on the couch. A storm was in the area.
Around 11.15 pm, Petra was reportedly woken up and when she entered the adjacent lounge was confronted by an extraordinary sight, that allegedly quickly overwhelmed her. A rectangular beam of light was being projected through the open window of the caravan lounge room.
This light beam appeared to be truncated at the end. Inside the beam Petra claims to have seen Amy in a sleep prone position, being carried out head first through the window. Underneath her, also within the beam were the items that had been on the coffee table adjacent to the couch Amy had been on. Before apparently fainting in shock Petra saw that the beam was coming from a disc shaped UFO hovering just above the ground a short distance away, near a tree at the rear of the clear section, immediately behind the annex caravan house.
Petra reports she believes she was only in a faint for a very short period of time. Regaining consciousness, she began screaming. Keith reports that he was awoken by the commotion coming from Petra. As he came from the caravan bedroom and stepped down into the lounge room annex Keith claims he was confronted by the sight of a highly agitated Petra and the contents of the coffee table on the floor in front of the window.
He told us that he soon realised that the window screen was torn in both a vertical fashion and along the bottom of the window frame. Keith indicated that initially he couldn’t get any sense out of Petra who was crying and very agitated, so he rushed outside trying to locate Amy.
She was reportedly nowhere to be found. Keith states when he started to be less agitated himself he was eventually able to get from Petra an idea of what happened. Keith claims he initially refused to believe what Petra was telling him. He said he rushed outside again trying to find his wife.
Eventually as the situation became clearer, Keith indicates he decided to call the police.
Keith call the Tiaro police around 11.40 pm reporting that his wife had been abducted and imploring that the police should come out. The manning status at that time meant there were some delays in the police coming out, but about hour and a half after the initial call Senior Constable Robert Maragna from Tiaro and an officer from Maryborough arrived at the site.
Initially police thought they might have been walking into a situation involving foul play, even perhaps a murder scene, but then the bizarre circumstances of the alleged events came into focus.
The two people, Keith and Petra, at the Gundiah property were claiming that Amy Rylance had been abducted by a “spaceship”! The officers were struggling to keep an open mind.
They were joined later by Sgt. John Bosnjak, the officer in charge of the Tiaro police. He had been asleep when the police called him to assist in the investigation. The three officers continued their investigations at the site. They confirmed that Keith Rylance and Petra Heller appeared to be in an agitated state and that there was no sign of Amy Rylance. The torn screen was examined.
A flowering bush, commonly known as “yesterday, today, tomorrow” was located immediately outside the left side of window, had indications of possibly being affected by heat or another mechanism along its right side. Oddly another flowering bush, a hibiscus, located immediately on the right hand side of the window area was not affected in the same way. The police took samples for possible later testing.
While the police were at the property, a phone call came through, which was taken by Keith Rylance. A woman was calling from Mackay indicating that she had taken a somewhat distressed and apparently dehydrated young woman from a BP petrol service station on the northern outskirts of central Queensland city of Mackay, some 790 kilometres to the north of the Gundiah – Tiaro area.
The young woman turned out to be Amy Rylance, and the female caller was ringing to advise that Amy was apparently all right and was at the Mackay hospital, where she had been examined by a doctor. Keith handed the phone to Snr. Constable Marangna.
Given these extraordinary circumstances Mackay police were called in, making a total of three police stations involved in the investigation -Tiaro, on outskirts of central Qeensland, Maryborough on the coast and Mackay, some 790 kilometres to the north of the Gundiah – Tiaro area.
A statement was notarised by the Mackay police with a Justice Act acknowledgement, that required Amy to acknowledge that she had stated was true to the best of her knowledge and belief, and that if it is admitted as evidence, that she may be liable to prosecution if she had indicated anything in it that she knew was false.
This statement indicated that she last only recollected lying on the couch at the Gundiah property. She had no recollection of the events that Petra described, but claimed she then next remembered waking up lying on a bench in a strange rectangular room. llumination came from the walls and the ceiling. She was alone.
She indicated she called out and heard what seemed to be a male voice, asking her to be calm and that everything would be alright and that she would not be harmed. Soon an opening appeared in the wall and “a guy” about 6 feet tall walked into the room.
The man appeared to be slender in build but in perfect proportion, covered head to foot in a full body suit. He had what seemed to be a black covering mask on his face, with a hole for his eyes, nose and mouth. He repeated his calming assurances.
Amy felt she had been there a while.
The guy told her they were returning her to a place not far from where they took her from, because the lights were wrong at the property and it wasn’t safe. She then indicates she found herself lying on the bed and falling asleep.
The next thing she recollects is that she woke up on the ground with trees around her. She felt disorientated, could smell the ocean, and indicated she was not sure how long she tumbled through bushland, but seemingly it was for a long time, but she felt she wasn’t making much progress.
She then came out onto a road that looked like a highway and saw a light from a petrol station. She walked into the station, where staff seeing her state, tried to offer some assistance.
She accepted some water, as she felt somewhat dehydrated. Initially she was not able to answer identifying questions, and didn’t know where she was.
She was also asked if she had been drinking or was on drugs, to which she said no. Amy indicated she felt tired, sore, drained and lethargic. She asked a woman at the service station to take her to the hospital, as she didn’t know of where else to go. The woman and her friend took Amy to the hospital.
Later Amy spoke with two police officers and also spoke with her husband Keith from the hospital. She then went to Mackay police station where she gave the statement of events. Amy also indicated that this sort of thing had never happened to her before, but when she was in 5th year school she had seen a large UFO surrounded by smaller objects.
The police arranged to put Amy in a motel pending the arrival of her husband. He and Petra arrived during the day and indicated they spent considerable time with Amy discussing what happen. Extensive notes were apparently made and photographs were taken of a triangular arrangement of marks on her inner right thigh, marks on each heel and the growing out of her hair which she had dyed earlier in the week.
Her hair had apparently started to show her former colour, suggestive that some considerable time had passed for her, apparently indicative of rather more than a few hours. Body hair had allegedly also become somewhat more pronounced that would otherwise would be apparent for the short time involved.
Via an Newsagent’s a copy of the Australian Ufologist magazine was purchased, Keith, Petra and Amy started to learn more about UFOs. Keith Rylance contacted the Australian UFO Research Network office number mentioned in the magazine. Diane Harrison took the call Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 15:20 p.m and for the next hour or so listened to the story that Keith and Amy told. Petra was apparently sleeping at the time.
Given the nature of the story, its complexity and the fact it apparently featured the alleged use of “solid light”, Diane decide to bring Bill Chalker into the investigation, making contact with him during the evening of Friday, October 5th.
Paradoxically Bill was scheduled to talk at a Brisbane UFO conference on October 13th, and his topics included “solid light” cases and the application of science to alien abduction cases. Bill put a call through to them at the motel, securing permission to record the conversation.
Once again Petra was not available to talk about her part in the alleged events. Keith Rylance went into considerable detail about the events, referring often to the notes they had apparently been compiling during the day. The details described covered the events Petra had witnessed, what Keith had experienced, and what Amy told them had happened to her during her experience.
Finally Bill spoke with Amy, focusing mainly on the events before and after the claimed onboard experiences, because Keith had already gone into considerable detail about the latter.
Bill discussed with Amy her general responses and her physical state and her current state of thought on her experiences. Keith Rylance seemed to want to control how both media and investigators would get involved. His desire to contact the media promptly drew from both Diane and Bill the suggestion that he should think very carefully about the possible ramifications of doing so. Keith seemed to feel that it was important to get the story out, as it would come out anyway and this way he could control the way it did.
He was also trying to restrict the way the investigators could or should look into their experience. He claimed they didn’t need to proof the experience. While he didn’t directly witness the experiences he believed both Amy and Petra.
Given the possible nature of the event, and that irrespective of the ultimate resolution of the affair, it seemed destined to be a big story, Diane and Bill decided to undertake an investigation. They had been given an indication from Keith Rylance that the three would wait for the investigators to come to Mackay.
The claimants were in no apparent hurry to return to Gundiah. They gave permission for Bill and Diane to visit the property on the way. Bill arrived in the Brisbane area on Tuesday afternoon, October 9th.
Diane and Bill then travelled to Gundiah, arriving at the Whispering Winds winery property, just after 10 pm. Because of the lateness of the hour, we got the witnesses permission to stay there overnight and to conduct whatever investigation we needed to do.
Keith had arranged for a neighbour to regularly check on the two pets left behind, namely a parrot and a kelpie dog. He indicated to us that it would be okay to let the dog off for a run, but warned us it was very friendly but inclined to jump all over people. We let the dog off at some point and observed its behaviour. At one point it did jump up on the window where the damaged screen was located. This gave some support to the possibility that at least some, if not all of the damage, could have been caused by the dog.
Some of the damage on closer inspection seemed suggestive of possible dog damage. Our inspection of the plant damage also suggested possible prosaic causes, such as heat stress. A plant at the front of the house had similar damage and a healthy flowering bush of the same species that was at the window, was examined by us at Mount Basset lawn cemetery has similar damaged.
A gardener there we spoke to indicated that the species often had random or more extensive damage of a heat stress nature from hot sunlight. The prosaic possibilities for both the screen and the plant damage are only suggestive at this point and further investigation is required. We undertook extensive investigations at the property and the area. Police were very helpful.
Our investigation generated many issues and questions, which we feel need resolution, in order to assist interpretations of these events. Further extensive investigations were undertaken in Mackay, focusing in particular at the area where Amy Rylance returned.
These included attempts to reconstruct the circumstances of Amy’s return, through onsite research. The BP petrol service station staff were spoken with and a surveillance video tape that may contain Amy’s visit there was provided to us by the station owner.
This part of our investigation also generated many issues and questions that need resolution if we are to approach any measure of certainty about the real nature of the events alleged.
Keith Rylance indicated to us he would be available to us when we got to Mackay, but it was made clear to us early on the first day of our investigations there that this wasn’t probably going to be the case.
When we contacted the motel where they had been the night before, their third motel in Mackay, we learned they had apparently already checked out that morning.
We left messages on their phone but didn’t hear from Keith until early on the afternoon of our second day, as we were leaving Mackay. In his mobile call, Keith apologised for not being available, but was indicating they had relocated to an unspecified location after having fled the area.
The primary reason for this Keith indicated was that they claimed they had a kind of “men-in-black” experience. In this case Keith was reporting a pursuit of their vehicle by a high powered dark brown 4 wheel truck. The nature of this event apparently frightened Keith, Amy and Petra, prompting Keith to attempt to loose the vehicle and eventually leave the area.
Before the completion of this preliminary report (14th October) we have heard from Keith again. We remain hopeful that they will get into more direct contact with us.
This affair is both extraordinary and controversial. Many have rushed to judgement, but given it’s complex and evolving dynamics, caution and patience is necessary. We have many issues and questions we would like to try to resolve.
Further contact with the Rylances and Petra Heller may help this process.
The case is far from closed and requires an objective, open-minded investigation. Only time will give us the possibility of resolution and certainty about this intriguing but controversial affair.
Regards, Diane Harrison National Director of The Australian UFO Research Network Australian Skywatch Director
I found this elephant head carving in a Mars photo last week and I have been thinking about it ever since. I wasn't going to tell anyone, because it was just too odd, but some of the most interesting things in life are odd. So, here we go. I found this head and it has a trunk like a baby elephant, except the trunk is a bit shorter. The end of the trunk has a wider opening...just like the elephants on earth. The ear is big and rounded and its forehead matches the ancient mammoth elephants here on earth more than the modern day elephants. The eyes are bold and round, with huge brow ridges. I just seems obvious to me. Scott C. Waring
This gigapan photo of Mars shows some very interesting patters that are similar to looking down on a city on Earth. The grid patterns here are huge and thick, much like the streets here in some big cities. You can even see some buildings in between the grid lines. So incredible. One structure looks very similar to the Vatican with its round base and rounded roof. NASA named this photo Atlantis Chassis. These grid lines are about 1km across each on average before they touch the next grid line...just like a big city block. Very incredible ancient alien city that appears to be millions of years old. 100% proof that aliens once existed on Mars. Please watch my video to learn more. Scott C. Waring
The Lightsail 2 craft is an experiment to prove the practical application of a controlled ‘solar sail’, which has the ability to far outstrip traditional rocket engines. The revolutionary mission was launched on June 25 and developed by ‘The Planetary Society’, based in the US. The voyage became the first ever to demonstrate solar sailing and used energy from the Sun to orbit Earth.
The tiny 10x10x30cm spacecraft was powered with propelled sunlight bouncing off its mirrored sails.
The exploration used thin plastic sheets to gather the momentum from the Sun.
Most notably the spacecraft was able to manoeuvre without the need for fuel or engines.
The Lightsail 2 was successful in its orbit around Earth
(Image: AP)
The voyage became the first ever to demonstrate solar sailing
(Image: The Planetary Society)
Mr Betts said: “We’re thrilled to announce mission success for LightSail 2.
“Our criteria was to demonstrate controlled solar sailing in a CubeSat by changing the spacecraft’s orbit using only the light pressure of the Sun, something that’s never been done before.
“I’m enormously proud of this team. It’s been a long road and we did it.”
Leading scientist and Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye said the mission was a “game-changer” for further space exploration.
He said: ”For The Planetary Society, this moment has been decades in the making.
“Carl Sagan talked about solar sailing when I was in his class in 1977. But the idea goes back at least to 1607, when Johannes Kepler noticed that comet tails must be created by energy from the Sun.
Lightsail: An artist impression of the space craft in orbit
(Image: PA)
Lightsail: The designs were released on the launch of the spacecraft
(Image: PA)
“The LightSail 2 mission is a game-changer for spaceflight and advancing space exploration.”
The LightSail 2 is a crowdfunded mission and involved donations from 50,000 people from across the world.
Jennifer Vaughn Planetary Society CEO said the mission can be a “paradigm shift” to get more people involved in space missions.
Ms Vaughn said: “LightSail 2 proves the power of public support.
Lightsail: The Planetary Society tweted out the last information emitted from the spacecraft
(Image: TWITTER•@exploreplanets)
“This moment could mark a paradigm shift that opens up space exploration to more players.
“It amazes me that 50,000 people came together to fly a solar sail.
“Imagine if that number became 500,000 or 5 million. It’s a thrilling concept.”
In a statement on the Planetary Society Twitter account, the team wrote: "LightSail2 is now the highest performing solar sail to date and it's 100% crowdfunded by our members and backers!"
History of solar sailing
• The idea for solar sailing dates back to the 17th century • NASA came up with the plan for a solar sail to Halley's comet in the 1970s • Russia teamed up with the Planetary Society for a doomed solar test for Cosmos 1 in 2001 and 2005 • Japan launched Ikaros - the first solar sail flight in 2010 • LightSail2 was launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket in 2019 • LightSail2's mission is to be the second-ever controlled solar sail flight and the first in Earth orbit
LightSail 2 has a limited lifespan and is doomed to be destroyed.
The spacecraft will eventually crash into the sun and burn as it continues its orbit.
The technology follows LightSail 1 which managed a much lower orbit on the same approach.
Ikaros: Japan's space craft was the first of its kind to carry out the journey
However, Lightsail is not the first solo-powered spacecraft to reach the other side of the sun.
Japan's Ikaros, which was carried by a Mitsubishi H-2A rocket, made the journey in May 2010.
Ikaros was helped on its journey to Jupiter, where it landed, by a 20-metre sail after a three-year journey.
Reporting on the mission, Japan's space agency said: "There will be the world's first solar-powered sail craft employing both photon propulsion and thin-film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise."
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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